Not Dead Yet CEO to Address International Advance Care Planning and "End of Life" Conference Thursday, May 31 in Chicago

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Not Dead Yet President and CEO Diane Coleman has accepted an invitation to give an opening plenary presentation to the 3rd International Society for Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care Conference being held in Chicago from May 31 through June 2, 2012.

Diane Coleman, President/CEO of Not Dead Yet

Too many people with disabilities have narrowly escaped pressures to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment that they need to survive.

“I was surprised to get the invitation,” Coleman said. “It’s no secret that the disability rights community has some significant problems with the way these issues play out in the real world. Too many people with disabilities have narrowly escaped pressures to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment that they need to survive.”

The Conference website notes that “the success of our previous conferences in Australia and the UK is reflective of the increasing importance that the international healthcare sector is placing on this pertinent area of patient care."

The Conference overview speaks to health care providers, emphasizing that, “As we continuously aim to provide an ever-increasing high standard of care to our patients, we recognise the need to research, examine, develop and learn with each other. At ACPEL 2012, we will therefore hear from a wide range of international speakers who will provide us with the latest developments and practices in advance care planning, end of life care, and its associated disciplines.”

Coleman’s remarks will describe some actual case examples of issues that concern the disability community, such as “Terrie’s Story”, an online article by a quadriplegic woman about how doctors pressured her family to withdraw life support when she was first spinal cord injured over ten years ago.

Coleman will also review relevant medical journal research on several key topics and will highlight a recent report issued by the National Disability Rights Network, which is described in a press release as “a first of its kind study, [in which] the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) determined that performing certain medical procedures or withholding life sustaining treatment in non-terminal situations without judicial review violates the civil rights of people with disabilities.”